NFL Trade Rumors
If the average career length for players is only three years, the average for head coaches can’t be much better. Long tenures for guys like Chiefs HC Andy Reid and Steelers HC Mike Tomlin obscure that for most head coaches, job security is a year-to-year proposition. In the last 15 years, NFL teams introduced 107 new coaching hires — a clip of seven per year. That means every three years, the league has essentially 66 percent turnover in the head coaching ranks.
Another batch of coaches is entering their final season on the job this year, but the good news is that it could be a relatively slower year for coaching changes. Firings tend to ebb and flow over three-year cycles, and with 15 new hires over the past two years, 2026 is shaping up to be an ebb. Looking around the league, there are just four coaches who are glaringly on the hot seat — guys who ended last year with open questions about whether they would be back until ownership gave a public vote of confidence.
But nothing sinks coaches quite like failing to meet expectations. And in a league where just 14 out of 32 teams make the playoffs and just one of those 14 ends the season feeling good about themselves, unmet expectations are common. A couple of coaches on the hot seat might turn things around this season, but history says by December they’ll be joined by a handful of others on the hot seat.
Here’s a look at which coaches could be in trouble if they fail to win enough games in 2025:
There might not be a coach under more pressure than Daboll this upcoming season. He arrived in New York with a reputation as a quarterback whisperer thanks to his work with Bills QB Josh Allen, and his first year reinforced that perception. The Giants made the playoffs and former QB Daniel Jones had the best season of his career, earning a multi-year extension the following offseason.
Unfortunately, Daboll couldn’t sustain that momentum over the next two years. Jones turned back into a pumpkin and the Giants stumbled to a 9-25 record over the past two years. Poor quarterback play has been a major weakness, but Daboll’s come under significant scrutiny for how he’s handled his coaching staff as well. This offseason, the Giants signed both veterans Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston, but the real hope is in first-round QB Jaxson Dart, who received Daboll’s stamp of approval during the pre-draft process this year. It’s not a stretch to say that Daboll’s future is tied to Dart’s.
Giants owner John Mara started fielding questions about Daboll’s job security last October, and the pressure from the fanbase and media to fire Daboll only ramped up as the season progressed (or regressed depending on your perspective). Through it all, Mara was true to his word that he wanted to be patient and give Daboll more time....
